Measurement Games

Focus On Measurement I think teaching measurement should be fun because there are so many real world questions kids ask every day that are answered using the vocabulary and concepts of measurement. How big am I? How tall? How much do I weigh? How about her? They

Have a student come to the front of the classroom and as a class, predict the length of his or her arms, legs or ears. Group students into groups of three and explain that each students should help to measure others and should measure himself or herself.

Begin by reviewing a ruler projected on a screen, showing students both sides of the ruler and noting that one edge shows inches while the other shows centimeters. Tell them they will be measuring with the inches side of the ruler today. Have students estimate in inches how long a strip of paper you hold up might be.

Students will need a large number of 1” cubes (wooden or plastic), a collection of various sizes of boxes (cereal, tea, crackers, etc.), rulers, pencils and paper.

Put students into pairs and give each pair two different sized boxes. Students will use the cubes to measure volume. This is a great way to introduce a unit on volume. Students will follow these directions projected on the overhead screen:

This game will help students learn to measure by practising on various objects. Write down a list of different measurements, such as 1 inch, 6 inches, 2 feet, 1 yard and give students a copy of the list.

Students will walk around the classroom or playground and try to find objects that match these measurements. The first student to finish the list wins the game.

Students will work in pairs. They each need pencils, rulers, bulletin board paper (one sheet for each student big enough to trace bodies), a life-size cut out of Abe Lincoln (Draw and measure this, or ask the art teacher for help!) hung up on the wall as if standing so students can see how tall he actually is.

Each student will need a milk carton filled with good soil, bean seeds, string to support the plants, graph paper to record results, a pencil and a ruler to measure the growth. You need a sunny window to put the plants near as well.

Have each student plant their seed one inch deep, one per container.

Place your containers in a sunny window. Water the seeds daily or every other day. Poke holes in the bottom of the milk cartons (this will keep roots from rotting).